Whether used for business conferencing or to stay in touch with far-flung
relatives, there’s no question that video chat has changed the lives of
millions

The biggest innovation to change my life has to be Skype. I’ve spent the past 12 years travelling the world to tell environmental and social stories, and being able to video-chat with classrooms, journalists, sponsors and NGOs has been a game-changer, bringing my stories to life and allowing there to be a shared experience. Not that long ago when you went to sea it was expected that you would drop off a communication cliff. I will never forget bobbing around in the middle of the Pacific on the Plastiki expedition, chatting with excited students and teachers around the world about our adventures. It’s hard to forget those faces beaming back at you, which makes it all the more worthwhile.

What is it? Remarkably, the idea for videoconferencing has been around since the Thirties but Skype made the idea a widespread reality when it was introduced in 2003. It was developed by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis using peer-to-peer networking to create a reliable, clear (and free!) connection. By January 2012, it had 31 million users.

How is it changing lives? To use video chat all you need is an internet connection and a device that has video and/or voice capabilities. This means that you can live absolutely anywhere in the world, call someone else who lives across the globe and have a clear, crisp and brilliant conversation with one another without spending a single penny. Today, even with its buyout by Microsoft for a staggering $8.5 billion, Skype is still free for Skype-to-Skype conversations and it – along with other video chat apps, such as Facetime or Google Hangouts – has changed the lives of millions.

Thanks to this ubiquitous technology you can stay in touch with far-flung family and friends – and that is a priceless gift for those who cannot afford to visit the people they love. Not only does video chat allow people to connect, it also opens up a world of new friendships, learning opportunities and communication.

Written by Tamsin Oxford

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